Nuso Esva, the Warlord known as Storm-hair, commanded a formidable and extensive battle fleet. This fleet contained three distinct fleets, with the Eastern Fleet being one such component. Functioning as the navy of his realm, Esva's powerful battle fleet conquered and pillaged numerous planets, while also eradicating several species originating from both the Unknown Regions and Wild Space. By the year 0 ABY, Esva found himself fighting against Senior Captain Thrawn's Empire of the Hand, which had begun to repel the Storm-hair's territorial gains. In an attempt to eliminate Thrawn and conquer the Galactic Empire, the warlord orchestrated a situation to lure the senior captain's Task Force Admonitor into the Poln system within the Galactic Empire's Candoras sector, which he accomplished after attacking one of his own attack squadrons above the Teptixii planet located in the Unknown Regions.
Esva then proceeded to sabotage the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer known as the Chimaera, programming it to collide with a Golan I space station. He issued orders to his fleet to destroy any starships that attempted to aid either the Chimaera or the Golan station. However, Thrawn skillfully maneuvered the Chimaera to avoid the collision, and subsequently brought the Death Squadron fleet of the Galactic Empire to the Poln system. The Death Squadron then obliterated the Eastern Fleet, although its commander managed to escape. By 8 ABY, Esva's once mighty battle fleet had been significantly reduced to scattered remnants.
The fleet under the command of the Warlord Nuso Esva, also known as Storm-hair, was comprised of three equally powerful fleets. One of these was the Eastern Fleet, which consisted of twenty-eight Firekiln capital ships, a complement of 100 escort ships, and a force of fifty Whisperlike fighters. Esva himself traveled aboard the Kazellis-class light freighter named Salaban's Hope.
Around 0 ABY, Esva was engaged in conflict with the Empire of the Hand, under the leadership of Senior Captain Thrawn who served the Galactic Empire. Given that the senior captain had successfully pushed back the warlord's advances, the Storm-hair sought to decisively defeat him. To this end, Esva captured the family of Bidor Ferrouz, who held the position of governor of the Candoras sector within the Galactic Empire, and coerced Ferrouz into allying himself with the Rebel Alliance, an organization opposed to the Galactic Empire. This action prompted Imperial forces to deploy to the system. Furthermore, the warlord managed to infiltrate the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Chimaera, adopting the guise of Lord Odo, a member of the Imperial Court. While aboard the Chimaera, Esva instructed its commander, Captain Calo Drusan, to navigate the Star Destroyer to the Teptixii system located in the Unknown Regions.
Drusan complied with the order, arriving to witness an engagement between one of Esva's attack squadrons—comprising eight Firekilns and twenty-seven escorts—and the Imperial Task Force Admonitor, led by the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Admonitor, under the command of Thrawn and Captain Voss Parck. Esva's forces were attempting to seize the task force's two Strike-class medium cruisers and four Carrack-class light cruisers with the intention of integrating them into the Storm-hair warlord's battle fleet. Esva advised Drusan to angle the Chimaera thirty degrees to port, in order to disrupt the attack squadron and force it to retreat. As the order was carried out, Esva's forces disengaged. The Storm-hair then directed Parck to bring Task Force Admonitor to the Poln system, citing ongoing attempts on Ferrouz's life, and issued a general command for all Imperial forces to provide assistance to the system.
The Chimaera and the task force arrived above Poln Major and Minor, alongside Esva's Eastern Fleet and Thrawn's DeepWater-class light freighter Lost Reef. The warlord sabotaged the Chimaera, setting it on a collision course with a nearby Golan I space station. Esva's twenty-eight Firekilns and their escorts stood ready to eliminate any vessel that attempted to aid Drusan's Star Destroyer; however, the Lost Reef employed its tractor beam to divert the Chimaera away from the Golan. Despite this setback, the Storm-hair warlord remained, broadcasting taunts over the comm.
Subsequently, Thrawn brought the Death Squadron fleet of the Galactic Empire, with its flagship being the massive Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor, to the Poln system. The senior captain then ordered all of his forces, including the Death Squadron, to engage Esva's forces, resulting in their destruction. Shortly thereafter, Thrawn returned to the Admonitor before departing to engage Esva's remaining two fleets. By 8 ABY, the once powerful battle fleet had been reduced to scattered remnants. In the same year, Esva met his end at the hands of Empire of the Hand stormtroopers on the planet Quethold located in the Unknown Regions.
The initial appearance of Nuso Esva's battle fleet was in Timothy Zahn's 2011 novel, Choices of One.